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| Artwork by Tarek Chemaly |
So The Guardian just issued "the world's 50 most powerful blogs" list (here).
Did I miss my chance for greatness? Well, I did that - long ago. How you may ask? By not accepting to monetize my readership. When blogs where accepting paid posts left and right when blogging was in its infancy in Lebanon (and sort of worldwide), I stuck to my guns and said no clearly (mind you my gripe, which I made clear back then was not that they were accepting paid posts for brands, but rather than the posts were not declared as such leading to the paid posts in question as to be confusing to the reader).
And here we are - in 2022 - where someone who posts an image on Instagram considers themselves as being blogger. From the original pack of all of us who started blogging, only 2 "blogs" survive, the second is just a place to post press releases by brands and an Instagram account. But in terms of those who actually "wrote"/"commented" I am literally, "the last man standing".
Sure when you base your blog on saying things about companies, getting (undeclared) freebies, and all that, then you end up travelling, of course the source material is going to dry up, and as another person said on Twitter "dear bloggers, please remember news agencies still exist". And they do, meaning all those who had a google notification about "Lebanon" and parroted the news, now have vanished.
I think, oddly, this blog has always been "under the radar", I never made any effort to promote it. I think it is is one of those "if you know you know". And thankfully, enough people know. Yes, yes, I said it before several times, that whereas the blog does not cost me "money" it does cost me "time". But it is time I am ready to give out, just to be that dissenting voice who does not copy paste press releases from brands and rather stand aside and say where the flaws of the ads are - or, paradoxically, give accolades where accolades are due.
You know what? I don't want to be on The Guardian's list of the world's 50 most powerful blogs.
Seriously, but next time I am taking some silly campaign down - objectively, with no malice - that same campaign that Marlene/Zeina/Tony/Ali described on Facebook as "yiiii chou hal ebde3" (oh what creativity!) I know I have done my mission right.